Tanáiste and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has received approval for the drafting of a Non-Fatal Offences (Amendment) Bill which tackles loopholes in current legislation. When amended, cyber stalking and revenge porn will become criminal offenses.

The legal definition of harassment will also be amended to encompass behaviour online.

Revenge porn is the circulation of sexually explicit media, without the consent of the individual involved. Although the majority of revenge porn victims are young women, men are vulnerable too.

A spokesperson for Women’s Aid earlier this year said; “It’s not revenge, it’s not porn. It is abuse and this type of abuse is one of the deepest betrayals of trust… what we are hearing is only the tip of a very large iceberg.”

Women’s Aid also asserted that current laws are simply unfit to meet new challenges with the rise of digital abuse.

The recommended punishment for the publication of revenge porn is a proposed €5000 fine and/or 12 months imprisonment if brought to District court level.

In more serious cases of online crime in which it is dealt with at Circuit Court level, perpetrators can face an unlimited fine and up to 7 years in prison.

Tanáiste Fitzgerald says; “The speed and scale of modern online communication can magnify the damage done by harmful communications.”

“Phenomena such as so-called revenge pornography and the publication of voyeuristic material can do serious and lasting harm at the touch of a button, and it is important that we act now to ensure our laws can deal effectively with these challenges.”

The publication of revenge porn is already punishable by law in the United Kingdom and the U.S.A., however until amendments are made there is currently no legislation in place to protect those affected by it in Ireland, aside from an inadequate legal definition of harassment which makes it easy for perpetrators to evade justice.